Article on MPR - none of the streams that feed Lake Minnetonka are flowing, the lake is down a foot-and-a-half, and they've shut off the Grays Bay Dam and let the Minnehaha Creek dry up

Just for reference

Normal creek flow

 

Current creek

 

Normal waterfall

 

Current waterfall

The Twin Cities as a whole is about 9 inches behind on rain since June 1. For most of the summer, the drought was pretty isolated to just this area of MN. But it’s greatly expanded now, and much of the state is now in some form of it, just like last fall. We are going to need above average snow pack and a wet spring to get out of it. It happened last year, so it can happen again.

 

There is actually some rain in the forecast Sunday night and into Monday. Let’s hope it happens.

2 minutes ago, gimruis said:

There is actually some rain in the forecast Sunday night and into Monday. Let’s hope it happens.

The article said that current forecast is for about 1 inch....we're either gonna need half a dozen more rains like that before the ground freezes, or LOTS of snow-pack that melts slowly so the ground-water can be refreshed...the aquifers under the area are also getting low.

South Missouri isn’t much better. We need rain bad 

We're in a pretty bad drought down here too.

 

I'm in south Arkansas.

 

Edited October 21, 20223 yr by volzfan59
Added where I live

Yeah, we are way below on rain here too. 

I realize you're far from Lake Superior, but I wonder if your drought is affecting the water levels here on Lake Ontario. They're really, really low despite the fact that we've been getting the normal amount of rain we're used to here. 

 

Our water levels are controlled by two factors:

1. How much water flows in from Erie (which gets water from the other Great Lakes)

2. How much water they drain out into the St. Lawerence River. 

 

I know they've been letting more water into the St. Lawerence this year, but I wonder if we're also not getting as much water flowing into Ontario this year compared to normal. Could be due to drought conditions in the midwest? 

Noticing a pattern here…

5 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Noticing a pattern here…

Ya...it's called Climate Change...welcome to the new norm.

5 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

welcome to the new norm.

Man I sure hope that a dry Minnehaha Creek bed isn’t the new norm here. Sadly, you may be right though.

We are in a drought here too. Heard tonight on tv we've only had .32" of rain in the last 30 days.

No better here in Iowa. My local lake and river are both the lowest I've seen in 21 years of living here.

North Central Mo is very dry also. Dust everywhere. We're supposed to get rain on Mon and Tues this week. I hope so. High fire alerts have been in place for weeks now.

The Mississippi has hit a record low.  The channel is 9-10ft down in many places. This means that the barges can't fully load corn and beans headed south to export.  This also means that the barges can't fully load fertilizer coming north for the fall field prep.  Shipping costs by river have doubled.  They are trying to move the stuff that can't be moved by barge using the rail system.  Rail costs have now tripled.  You will all see this in your grocery costs.  

I've been raking some leaves this week and its almost mind boggling how dry they are.  Even with half an inch of snow a week ago.  They crumble into pieces when I try to bag them.  After this round, I'm going to just mulch them.  No point in raking and bagging them when they're just dissipating into dust.

34 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I've been raking some leaves this week and its almost mind boggling how dry they are.  Even with half an inch of snow a week ago.  They crumble into pieces when I try to bag them.  After this round, I'm going to just mulch them.  No point in raking and bagging them when they're just dissipating into dust.

I just give them to my neighbors on a windy day....

1 hour ago, Deleted account said:

I just give them to my neighbors on a windy day....

I knew you were my neighbor 

that sucks.  

 

we are ahead of you all about a few years.  I used to frequent a few forums where people just weren't sympathetic to California.  I would get statements like, "you choose to live in a desert..."

 

I would grimace and stay polite.  I want perfect Cinderella-rain (not too much, not too little, but just right) for everybody!!!  when I retire, I am moving outta here to find a wetter climate.  just for my sanity.  I dont care if all I have is trout fishing.  

32 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

when I retire, I am moving outta here to find a wetter climate.  just for my sanity.  I dont care if all I have is trout fishing.

 

Move to western Washington state. You'll get abundant rain and plenty of trout fishing.  We've had record rain totals and below average temps year after year after year.  We've been getting all your rain.

 

Climate change is forcing people to move, driving up crop prices, and impacting infrastructures.  Don't get me started.

We need a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, then north up the Mississippi Valley.

8 hours ago, Glenn said:

Climate change is forcing people to move

If I was going to move, that’s probably where’d I’d go. People need to start thinking long term here.

We've alternated between wet and dry this tear. It's very dry now which actually benefits farmers with good harvest weather and lack of drying costs. We're supposed to start moistening up with the prospect of a La Nina winter. Yes, climate change is real but I see it as cyclical. 

3 hours ago, The Bassman said:

We've alternated between wet and dry this tear. It's very dry now which actually benefits farmers with good harvest weather and lack of drying costs. We're supposed to start moistening up with the prospect of a La Nina winter. Yes, climate change is real but I see it as cyclical. 

I asked the in-laws if the drought affected their farm, they said this time of year is great for it to be dry so they can get out and harvest. They want it to be dry during planting and harvest and rain the rest of the time 

50 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

they said this time of year is great for it to be dry so they can get out and harvest. They want it to be dry during planting and harvest and rain the rest of the time 

Ya, except for the fact that the river is so low that barges can't haul that grain because they're running aground.

We received about 6 hours of a light steady rain today here. It probably won’t amount to much but a steady rain over a long period is better than a summer down pour. Hopefully it’s the beginning of a wetter pattern.